So What’s New?

So what’s new? Few points in recent history could have so many profound responses to such a simple question from every person in a society, and yet, here we are. Until a few hours before this blog entry was due, I was adamant that my subject needed to be about anything other than the crisis at hand. We’re all in our own version of it. Our new normal changes every few hours. The 24-hour news cycle, email, and social media all bombard us with “the latest”. I refused to add to it. But I’ve given in and settled on a parallel subject which, although related to our situation, is hopefully distant enough to distract for a few minutes.

This morning before commuting down the hall, I sat with my 11-year-old son to review his schedule for the day. As we perused his tasks, I made sure he had everything needed to complete his school work for the day. (Hopefully without interrupting Mom’s or Dad’s workday.) That’s when it hit me – his day looked a lot like mine.

Backing up to when we started this surprise homestand mid-March, my son had a loose schedule with some general guidelines cobbled together by my wife and me – read a book for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, spend 45 minutes on your online math class work, spend an hour practicing Spanish on DuoLingo, etc. It was far from perfect, but the best we could do after school was cancelled on short notice as we were trying to manage our own work. That was effective for about a day, which is to say that we didn’t get many interruptions during business hours. (I made it clear that if the office door is shut, he needs to knock and get an answer before entering – unless the house is on fire or the Bills somehow won the Super Bowl.) However, by the second day we were arguing about schedules, workload, etc. My son insisted he could manage his time. It was clear we needed a better plan.

Fast forward a few days and his 5^th grade class had quickly moved to an online curriculum. We created a daily schedule together in Excel broken into 30-minute intervals. He adjusts the schedule each day based on changing Zoom meeting times for different classes, rotating in things like art and music to fill gaps. We agreed that he’s in charge of his day as long as his work is done, his commitments are met, and his grades are sufficient. (At least he feels like he’s in charge.) Expectations were set, all stakeholders had a say, measures were in place, and our improved “new normal” was implemented.

As I started reviewing his daily work and the tools he was using to complete assignments, the parallels to my own day were striking. He was using Excel to plan and manage his time. Teachers were using Google Classroom to organize lessons and share documents. Students all have Google Docs accounts to store and hand in assignments. Others are submitted by scanning and emailing. Daily lesson plans are distributed to students as PowerPoint decks. Virtual classes are conducted on Zoom. Questions can be posed and answered via email. And for the most part, he has quickly learned to manage all of this on his own. At first, I made it a point to occasionally look over his shoulder and offer tips on using some applications, but he has required very little support to get what he needs out of them. And apparently 11 is the age at which he has reached enlightenment, as he now knows everything. (Insert sarcastic overtone.) A subject for another time.

But back to the observation of parallels in our day. Our 5^th grader has been challenged to manage his time effectively. He is required to attend scheduled meetings. As schedules shift, he adapts accordingly. He has output to produce and testing to complete. He is utilizing a suite of applications to accomplish all of this. And he must interact with his peers and teachers in new ways. Plus Mom and Dad are around the corner. All the time.

It’s a lot to take in and none of it has been easy. It has only been a few weeks, but he is quickly adapting to our environment and finding a way to live up to new responsibilities and expectations. Isn’t that what we’re all doing? Maybe on the other side of this, we’re going to realize we’ve grown in some ways we didn’t anticipate. I can already see it.